Venice asks tourists to ditch plastic water bottles and drink from fountains

If you're travelling to Venice, you may want to ditch this item before you go. Photo / Unsplash

After banning large cruise ships and introducing a tourist tax, Venice now wants visitors to ditch their single-use plastic water bottles and drink from fountains instead.

Those travelling to Venice, Italy, have yet another hoop to jump through as the government asks tourists to help the city cut down on pollution.

A local marketing campaign from city officials will encourage millions of tourists who visit each year to avoid purchasing or bringing plastic water bottles into the city through a local marketing campaign.

Part of the campaign involves creating a map that shows where you can find public drinking fountains around the city. There are currently 126 fountains that are safe to drink from.

According to locals, you can find one of these fountains every 100 metres or so.

The map will show the city's 126 drinking fountains and 60 additional fountains on nearby islands. Small icons will indicate where travellers and locals can find safe, clean water.

The initiative aims to reduce the amount of plastic litter thrown into the street and water canals, largely by tourists.

In 2019, 5.5 million people visited Venice, hugely outnumbering its 50,000-strong population. Depending on the time of year, tourism contributes up to 40 per cent of the city's waste, the city council told AFP.

Travellers who want access to a map right now can use one created by local businessman Marco Capovilla.

Capovilla founded Venice Tapwater in 2019, in an effort to promote the use of the city's fountains and reduce the polluting effect of plastic bottles on the environment.

This involved creating a map of the city's water fountains.

This is the latest measure Venice has taken to move from mass tourism to a more sustainable model.

In 2019, the city banned large cruise ships over 1000 tonnes, although some have found a loophole and still manage to ferry passengers in for day trips.

From 2023, day-visitors will be charged an entry fee and forced to schedule their visit in advance.